I have been a movie fan for most of my life and a film critic since 1986 (my first published review was for "Platoon"). Since that time I have written for several news and entertainment publications in California, Utah and Idaho. Big fan of the Academy Awards - but wish it would go back to the five-minute dinner it was in May, 1929. A former member of the San Diego Film Critics Society and current co-host of "The Movie Guys," each Sunday afternoon on KOGO AM 600 in San Diego with Kevin Finnerty.
Let’s face it, the sheer existence of the numeral “2” behind any film title automatically relegates said picture to the garbage heap of cinematic experiences (see “The Hangover Part 2” and “The Smurfs 2” as recent examples). Of course, there are rare exceptions where the sequel is better than or as good as the first,…
While watching Jobs one cannot help but think back on the 1999 TNT made-for-TV movie “Pirates of Silicon Valley,” starring Noah Wyle as Steve Jobs and Anthony Michael Hall as Bill Gates. Well, at least I could not help thinking about that film. It certainly told a much crisper, tighter story of the beginning of…
When one titles a film using a human emotion or condition (i.e., “Frantic” or “Frenzy” or “Psycho” or “Vertigo“), the bar needs to be set fairly high. In the case of Paranoia, however, that bar could not possibly get any lower. And despite starring several Academy Award-caliber performers (previous nominees Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman,…
If ever a motion picture suffered enough schizophrenia for a roomful of Sigmund Freuds, it’s 2 Guns, the newest effort from director Baltasar Kormákur (“Contraband“) starring Mark Wahlberg (“Ted“) and Denzel Washington (coming off of his Oscar-nominated turn in “Flight“). While the running thread of the mismatched black and white partners forced to work together…
When we last left our intrepid tiny blue friends, they had just . . . oh, why bother explaining the plot of this film’s predecessor, “The Smurfs,” when it’s going to be difficult enough to write about this sequel’s ridiculous storyline? And, unless one is either under the age of four or in a drug-induced…
Just because there is a wealth of animated feature films out there does in no way mean all of them are worthy of our hard-earned bucks. Only a few are exceptional, a few more are decent, while most just float on the surface of pop culture for a few weeks as a true homage to…
Lightning doesn’t often strike twice in the same place, and that goes double for film sequels. Those expecting this newest DC Entertainment release, Red 2, to capture the same feel as its 2010 predecessor, “Red,” will be a bit disappointed, although it is safe to write that the sting will not be too great as…
